Corovera Airport, Murcia, Spain

Corovera Airport is one of the newest greenfield airport projects in Spain. The airport is being constructed in the Murcia region of Spain which is already served by San Javier (itself undergoing expansion) and Alicante Airport (difficult to expand being in an industrial zone).

Projections for the increase in tourist numbers in the area over the next ten to 15 years have convinced the federal government and several large financial backers that the new airport is a very viable and profitable enterprise.

Murcia is undergoing a building boom with several large and prestigious resorts being constructed that could be more easily served by the new airport. Some examples of these are Polaris World golf resorts, Los Jardines del Puerto, Fondoso Valley, Corovera Golf and Sucina Golf and Country Club.

The new airport will be situated near to the town of Corovera in the Sierra de Carrascoy Mountains about 20 minutes drive from the City of Murcia.

Corovera Airport is expected to try and attract a range of low-cost European and UK airlines by offering favourable terms.

COROVERA PLANNING AND FINANCE

Plans for the airport were first put forward in 2005 and were given the go-ahead by Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero the Spanish Prime Minister and also Ramón Luis Valcarcel the President of Murcia.

However in 2006 just after planning had been granted objections were raised by Armilar-Procam, a Spanish development company, who suggested that the airport should not have been granted planning consent because it would cause noise pollution in the area beyond the legal set limits and that people living in the area set for development had very serious objections.

Despite a court case over the matter, which halted preliminary construction work, the planning consent was confirmed and the project is now going ahead. The region of Murcia is seeing unprecedented development and construction (many golf and residential resorts being developed) and a new airport is seen as a necessary part of the infrastructure.

The airport is estimated to require €266m to construct and outfit including acquisition of the site. It has been estimated that the new airport could triple the number of visitors to the Murcia region when it is opened in 2010.

CONSTRUCTION

The airport, which will operate 24 hours a day, will be built on a 300ha site near Corovera inside a national park (Parque Regional de Carrasco y El Valle). The consortium that will construct and then operate the airport over a period of 40 years is called Aeromur.

Aeromur is lead by Sacyr and the consortium also includes Cajamurcia, CAM, the Fuertes Group, Cementos La Cruz, Monthisa and Inocsa.

The detailed construction plans were passed to the Ministry of Development in mid-2007 for final approval and construction is due to start properly (site preparation has been on-going) in the first months of 2008 with a scheduled opening in mid-2010.

The airport will be expected to have a capacity of three million passengers a year by the opening date and by the end of the concession period the capacity is projected to have increased to 14 million passengers a year, which will require subsequent phases of expansion (additional funds are already being set aside for further development).

The initial phase of the airport will include a 3,000m runway, five hangars and a single terminal building. The airport will be designed to be able to handle seven flights per hour at peak times. The runway will be 3km southeast of Corovera near the neighbouring town of Valladolises and also parallel with the A30 (Autovia de Murcia).

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